The Portland daily press., 1887-03-18
THE REAL LESSo.
N V Trihune
vENTRILoouisM.
Its Use in oIden Times-lnteresting
Anecdotes.
Thos. !. BowdItch N fine Trov Times.


Thos J. Bowditch in the Troy Times.
The word s'ventriloquist," as is well known
means belly or stomach speaking. A ven
triloquist is a person who, by drawing the
air in the lungs, has the power of speaking
inwardly without any visible motion of the
lips; and who by means of this astonishing
faculty possesses peculiar art Of forming
his speech and modifying his voice so as to
make the sound proceed from and direction
or distance he pleases; and it is curious
fact that this is the exact literal rendering of
the term so often translated in the Bible "as
having familiar spirit" This power, mis-
used to deceive the ignorant and credulous,
as it undoubtedly must have been, is de-
nounced again and again, both in the Old
and New Testaments. There is every rea-
son to SUPPOSE that Egyptian priests and
the guardians of the oracles among the
Greeks imposed upon the multitudes who
visited their shrines by means of ventrilo-
quism. Who can wonder if the bewildered
deyotee at Delphi or Dodona concluded that
deity must be present when he heard voices
proceed from marble statues and living oaks.
| In later times many interesting anecdotes
are recorded of the use Of this power. Those
who have laughed over the fictitious adven-
! lures of Valentine Vox can find equally
amusing accounts which rest upon the solid
| basis of truth.
Frederick McCabe was a great ventrilo-
| quist and practical joker. Several years
| ago he was ON board a Mississippi river
| steamboat and forming an acquaintance
| with the engineer, was allowed the freedom
| Of the engine room. He took a seat in a
| corner, and, pulling his hat down over his
| eyes, appeared to be lost in reverie. Pres
emily certain part of the machinery began
| to squeak. The engineer oiled it and went
about his usual duties. In the course of a
few minutes the squeaking was heard again,
and the engineer rushed oyer,sOil can in
hand, to lubricate the same old journal.
Again he returned to his post, but it was
only few minutes until the journal was
squeaking louder than ever. "Great Jupi-
terri he yelled, ''the things bewitchedl''
More oil was administered, but the engineer
began to smell rat. Pretty soon the jour-
nal squeaked again, and slipping up behind
the engineer squirted half pint Of oil down
that journal won't squeak any more" The
| joke was so good that McCabe could not keeI
1t. and he often told it with much relish.
Alexander Vattemore, the celebrated ven.
| triloquist and actor, was one evening invited
to court entertainment by the famous Czal
Nicholas of Russia, and found himself In the
ml0st OF diplomatic nOtabilities, who were
regretAng the unusually serious humor OF
the emperor. They requested Vattemore tc
Try ms skill e9 the stern ruler, and in mo.
ment large hy,was heard buzzing around
his brow. The Emperor made movement
| to drive the insect away, but in vain; it be.
came more and more annoying, when at last
the autocrat seized his head with both hands
in the hope of crushing it, the insect Few
humming and buzzing behind picture, and
| when the emperor learned that it was simply
a trick OF the yentriloquist he enjoyed
hearty laugh over it and was in a pleasant
| mood the rest of the evening.
A French actor, Philippe, upon the occa.
sion of his marriage, left Paris for an estate
| he had purchased in Lorraine. Strolling
among the village jewellers who were unac,
| quainted with his art, he filled them with
terror and dismay by causing a voice to is.
sue from the wine casks which reproached
| them for their drunkenness, and from wheel
barrows to accuse them of laziness. The
| whole village fancied itself betwitched.
| Comte, one of the most skillful of ventrilo-
| GUSTS, performed thousands of these ex-
| pl0its. When travelling in Belgium he once
caused the voice of Margaret of Austria to
come from her tomb in the church of Bron,
| and to administer a severe and well deserved
reproof to the attendants in charge of the
church. At Rheims he created the utmost
CONSERVATION by causing voices to proceed
from several graves in the churchyard, and
near MEYERS, meeting an ass cruelty over
laden by its master, he revived the miracle
Of Balaam by expressing the complaints OF
the animal from its own mouth.
Another time, when travelling in a dill
| gence by night, his companions were aroused
from their slumbers by confusion of voices
OF robbers around the vehicle, calling upon
the position to stop. In the prevailing con-
sternatlon Monsieur Comte's offer to nego
| tiate with the robbers for the ransom of the
whole party was eagerly accepted. He de
| scended from the carriage for this purpose
| and was soon heard conversing with varie
| ty of voices breathing the most frightfu
threats. The travellers considered them
selves fortunate in saving their lives by Civ.
ing up all they had upon their persons WheI
daylight broke and before they had finished
| reviewing their wondrous escape, their adroi
fellow traveller explained to them the natur,
OF the jest and restored to them their proper
ty.
Early in the sixteenth century Louis Bra
bant, rdtet de chdm6re of Francis l., was re
markable for his ventriloquial powers. Louis
1t seems, fell in love with beautiful younl
novitiate who was soon to take the veil. The
1 sentiment was returned, and Brabant ar
ranged for an elopement. His inamorata sue.
| ceeded in getting outside the convent walls,
| and the two hurried away to the house of d
neighboring priest. The holy man was
shSaao1 ssaAsi .svoLod ,cifvIn tile Ger.
emony. His refusal was thing to be ex
| pected, but Brabant was too cunning for tn,
priest. When he said MOP most emphati
cally, and was about to raise a comm0tion ant
| nave but HONllldJe returned 10 the clOlSter
deep sepulchral voice was heard coming iron
the bowels of the earth. 1t is said; 81 an
thy father, and am stillin torment. Mari,
this couple to each other, and my probation
in purgatory will be over" The frightene,
priest called upon all the saints to protec
him, and proceeded to perform the ceremon,
with greater alacrity than he had eve
shown on similar occasions.
Prof. Owen Dixon had great ventriloquia
powers. He was travelling with musica
combination. One day while travelling in tn
cars he threw his voice into a covered baske
and set up a furious barking like dog. Tn
lady beside whom the basket was sittin
gave q scream and bounded out of the seat
Then he made "a cat join in the row, and
brakeman came running. pell-mell to Quie
the disturbance. He jerked the lid off tn
basket and found nothing but lot of de
licious peaches the lady was taking home
The people in the cars were much mystifed
Then he set a bumblebee buzzing about tn
brakeman's ears, and he retreated. A gen
tleman who was sitting near heard vol
growl SO furiously behind him that h
Jumped so high that his head touched tn
top of the ear. Then the lady was led to be
lieve that mouse's nest had found l0dgmen
in her pocket, and then the fun was com
plete.
In the earlier days of ventriloquism, fron
the witch of Endor downward, the art ap
| pears to have been almost exclusively con
fined to the female sex, though in our tim
| 1t is protested only by men. About the mid
die of the sixteenth century woman names
Cecilia, in Spain, possessed the art of caus
ing her voice to issue from her elbow, foot o
any other part of her body. She pretended Il
hold converse with an invisible colleague
whom she called Pierre Jean, and for thi
she was tried for witchcraft and magic, an,
exiled to the island of st. Thomas, in remis
sion OF the sentence at first imposed, tina
sne should be burned alive. In the sam,
century ahother woman was arralgned TO
sorcery in Italy, whose voice appeared to is
sue from the center of her body.
In 1853 Barbara Jacoby narrowly escaped
revelations which her acquaintance with IN,
gossips of that city enabled her to make II
| oonversation with an imaoinarSr D,li:SS - =